ReactOS Window Manager

[cippozzo]

So, i don't know very well how Windows and ReactOS makes the Windows. I'd like to replace the Windows or ReactOS window manager with one of Linux(Metacity)... So, how ReactOS windows manager works? I need to had more look to ReactOS XD

[EmuandCo]

Windows are drawn by the subsystem win32k. The shell32 is for stuff like start menu and almost any other system dialog in the base shell. Well.... you WONT be able to use any strange Linux X-Server stuff in ROS neither in Windows.

[ConductiveDielectric]

It is not possible to use Linux window manager in an OS, based on the NT architecture.

NT 6.0+ uses the Desktop Window Manager (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_Window_Manager) to render the GUI. In older versions of NT (ReactOS, WinXP, Win2k), the WM is implemented in win32k.sys (http://www.microsoft.com/resources/docu ... archi.mspx):

The server side functions of GDI and Window Manager, previously known as Winsrv.dll, have been incorporated into the Executive as Win32k.sys.

[mrugiero]

You could try to port it, but even if it turns out to be possible, the amount of work it implies vastly surpases any possible benefit.

[Aeneas]

Well.... you WONT be able to use any strange Linux X-Server stuff in ROS neither in Windows.

Ah... well... you know, you MAY be actually able to use it.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/xming/

It is very remarkable just how "unixy" Windows can start to "feel" if you really want to...

EDIT: As to the "Why would I need this?"-category of questions: mostly, in order to forward with ssh -X linux apps to your windows machine, assuming you do not wish to use VNC.

[hbelusca]

Well.... you WONT be able to use any strange Linux X-Server stuff in ROS neither in Windows.

Ah... well... you know, you MAY be actually able to use it.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/xming/

It is very remarkable just how "unixy" Windows can start to "feel" if you really want to...

EDIT: As to the "Why would I need this?"-category of questions: mostly, in order to forward with ssh -X linux apps to your windows machine, assuming you do not wish to use VNC.

Hmm I think that EmuandCo wanted to say, "replacing all the win32k.sys and user-mode related components (user32.dll, gdi32.dll and so on) (i.e. what makes the window management on Windows / ReactOS) by a full X-server ported to an NT operating system". Because here, xming is just a X-server layer using existing functions to create and draw windows.

[Aeneas]

Sounds reasonable enough, and I actually did not mean to propose implementing an X system (that the Unix world already tries to replace).

I just found the possibility intriguing, and have used it myself to great effect.

[cippozzo]

So, reactos has not very good drivers for GPUs... Maybe with a native xserver and some pieces taked from Wine , ReactOS can be more stable with GPUs, but i think it's difficult and it will not be a real NT, but a mix of NT and Unix

[Z98]

You don't quite seem to understand OS architecture. ReactOS is not Unix or Linux. It's an implementation of NT. As such, window managers intended to work on Linux will by design not work on ReactOS. Anything that does not work on Windows is guaranteed to also not work on ReactOS.

[Black_Fox]

So, reactos has not very good drivers for GPUs... Maybe with a native xserver and some pieces taked from Wine , ReactOS can be more stable with GPUs, but i think it's difficult and it will not be a real NT, but a mix of NT and Unix

That's like saying that fglrx trouble that some people have on Linux can be easily fixed by importing RDP and some pieces taken from Windows...

[milon]

So, reactos has not very good drivers for GPUs... Maybe with a native xserver and some pieces taked from Wine , ReactOS can be more stable with GPUs, but i think it's difficult and it will not be a real NT, but a mix of NT and Unix

Using code from Wine is a great idea! And we already do that.

[cippozzo]

lol, the piece of wine needed is the thing that allow to show Windows apps on the x11 desktop

[hbelusca]

lol, the piece of wine needed is the thing that allow to show Windows apps on the x11 desktop

Of course, they call-back the X-server when one calls a Windows/Wine window api.

[Vulture]

The other way around would be interesting. As a pure X11 Window Manager maybe too chatty and slow with too many roundtrips (not to
mention supporting all the requirements). But directly on top of KMS/DRM would be really fast and light (as a kernel module like in
Windows). QT and GTK already happily talk to GDI so...

[PurpleGurl]

This thread is interesting, though not of use to the project I am afraid. It would be interesting if there was a Windows kernel with some of the Linux stuff to where none of the emulators, go-between libraries, etc. would be needed to run Linux stuff, and would thus run it with better efficiency. But that is not our project, though if someone wants to take our user mode sources and the sources to Xming or other projects and integrate their functions and make them work under native Windows, they are more than free to do so. Then instead of people bugging us to be more like Linux, there would already be a modification available for Windows to do just that, and those who want to use ROS or Windows that way would only have to drop in the modified ROS files and use the accompanying software. Whoever does that could add a user friendly installer/remover for it which would back up the original files and all and replace them upon removal.